The 'Ordinariness of the EU's Foreign Policy Power: The Use of WTO Litigation as a Means to Export EU Norms, Values and Interests

The EU has historically been portrayed as a distinctive international actor both in terms of the norms and values it exports in context of its international relations and the manner in which it seeks to influence others. However, such claims to the EU’s distinctiveness are increasingly being questioned. This article joins this chorus of voices arguing the non-distinctiveness of the EU’s foreign policy power by focusing on a specific feature of the EU’s external trade policy, the role of World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement in the EU’s attempts to promote its interests, values and norms.

Anti-biofilm activity of ultrashort cinnamic acid peptide derivatives against medical device-related pathogens

The threat of antimicrobial resistance has placed increasing emphasis on the development of innovative approaches to eradicate multidrug-resistant pathogens. Biofilm-forming microorganisms, for example, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus, are responsible for increased incidence of biomaterial infection, extended hospital stays and patient morbidity and mortality. This paper highlights the potential of ultrashort tetra-peptide conjugated to hydrophobic cinnamic acid derivatives. These peptidomimetic molecules demonstrate selective and highly potent activity against resistant biofilm forms of Gram-positive medical device-related pathogens. 3-(4-Hydroxyphenyl)propionic)-Orn-Orn-Trp-Trp-NH2 displays particular promise with minimum biofilm eradication concentration (MBEC) values of 125 µg/ml against methicillin sensitive (ATCC 29213) and resistant (ATCC 43300) S. aureus and activity shown against biofilm forms of Escherichia coli (MBEC: 1000 µg/ml). Kill kinetics confirms complete eradication of established 24-h biofilms at MBEC with 6-h exposure. Reduced cell cytotoxicity, relative to Gram-positive pathogens, was proven via tissue culture (HaCaT) and haemolysis assays (equine erythrocytes).

Existing in nature as part of the immune response, antimicrobial peptides display great promise for exploitation by the pharmaceutical industry in order to increase the library of available therapeutic molecules. Ultrashort variants are particularly promising for translation as clinical therapeutics as they are more cost-effective, easier to synthesise and can be tailored to specific functional requirements based on the primary sequence allowing factors such as spectrum of activity to be varied.

Foreign Direct Investment and Country Risk::Is There Evidence of 'Malign Investment in the Former Soviet States'

This paper examines the relationship between concepts of MNE bargaining power and broader concepts of political power. It notes that the analysis of MNE bargaining power presents a number of puzzles from the perspective of political theory. These puzzles arise, in part, from the fact that the overlap between traditional concepts of MNE bargaining power and broader concepts of political power is only a partial one. Despite these problems, it is suggested that political- theory-based approaches can add realism to our understanding of bargaining power.

Foreign Policy as Ethics: Toward a Re-Evaluation of Values

This article notes that while ethics is increasingly talked of in foreign policy, it remains a blind-spot for FPA. It argues that this must be rectified through a critical approach which conceptualises foreign policy as ethics. The first section examines how even constructivist approaches, which are highly attuned to the intersubjective sphere, still generally avoid dealing with morality. The second section looks at the possibilities and limits of one piece of constructivist theorizing that explores the translation of morality into foreign policy via ‘norms’. This demonstrates the problems that a constructivist account, with its tendency toward explanatory description without evaluation, will always face. The final section argues, through an examination of EU foreign policy (from 1999-2004) and its innovative use of ‘hospitality’, that FPA must critically reassess the value of the norms and principles by which foreign policy operates in order to suggest potentially more ethical modes of encounter.

How high (and far) can you go? On setting fines in cartel cases involving vertically-integrated undertakings and foreign sales

Delineating human resource management practice in domestic and foreign owned multinational enterprises in Australia

To date there is an absence of any systematic and extensive data on Australian multinational enterprises (MNEs). This research paper fills the information gap and leads to a discussion of the human resource management (HRM) practices of Australian MNEs in the global arena and whether there is a distinctive national identity associated with these practices. We report on the profile of Australian-based multinational enterprises (MNEs). Drawing on a systematic database developed by the authors in 2010–11 we are able to identify the numbers of Australian MNEs and their characteristics and compare them against a representative sample of foreign-owned MNEs operating in Australia.

Novel materials based on chitosan, its derivatives and cellulose fibres

O presente trabalho tem como principal objectivo o desenvolvimento de novos materiais baseados em quitosano, seus derivados e celulose, na forma de nanofibras ou de papel. Em primeiro lugar procedeu-se à purificação das amostras comerciais de quitosano e à sua caracterização exaustiva em termos morfológicos e físicoquímicos. Devido a valores contraditórios encontrados na literatura relativamente à energia de superfície do quitosano, e tendo em conta a sua utilização como precursor de modificações químicas e a sua aplicação em misturas com outros materiais, realizou-se também um estudo sistemático da determinação da energia de superfície do quitosano, da quitina e seus respectivos homólogos monoméricos, por medição de ângulos de contacto Em todas as amostras comerciais destes polímeros identificaram-se impurezas não polares que estão associadas a erros na determinação da componente polar da energia de superfície. Após a remoção destas impurezas, o valor da energia total de superfície (gs), e em particular da sua componente polar, aumentou consideravelmente. Depois de purificadas e caracterizadas, algumas das amostras de quitosano foram então usadas na preparação de filmes nanocompósitos, nomeadamente dois quitosanos com diferentes graus de polimerização, correspondentes derivados solúveis em água (cloreto de N-(3-(N,N,N-trimetilamónio)-2- hidroxipropilo) de quitosano) e nanofibras de celulose como reforço (celulose nanofibrilada (NFC) e celulose bacteriana (BC). Estes filmes transparentes foram preparados através de um processo simples e com conotação ‘verde’ pela dispersão homogénea de diferentes teores de NFC (até 60%) e BC (até 40%) nas soluções de quitosano (1.5% w/v) seguida da evaporação do solvente. Os filmes obtidos foram depois caracterizados por diversas técnicas, tais como SEM, AFM, difracção de raio-X, TGA, DMA, ensaios de tracção e espectroscopia no visível. Estes filmes são altamente transparentes e apresentam melhores propriedades mecânicas e maior estabilidade térmica do que os correspondentes filmes sem reforço. Outra abordagem deste trabalho envolveu o revestimento de folhas de papel de E. globulus com quitosano e dois derivados, um derivado fluorescente e um derivado solúvel em água, numa máquina de revestimentos (‘máquina de colagem’) à escala piloto. Este estudo envolveu inicialmente a deposição de 1 a 5 camadas do derivado de quitosano fluorescente sobre as folhas de papel de forma a estudar a sua distribuição nas folhas em termos de espalhamento e penetração, através de medições de reflectância e luminescência. Os resultados mostraram que, por um lado, a distribuição do quitosano na superfície era homogénea e que, por outro lado, a sua penetração através dos poros do papel cessou após três deposições. Depois da terceira camada verificou-se a formação de um filme contínuo de quitosano sobre a superfície do papel. Estes resultados mostram que este derivado de quitosano fluorescente pode ser utilizado como marcador na optimização e compreensão de mecanismos de deposição de quitosano em papel e outros substratos. Depois de conhecida a distribuição do quitosano nas folhas de papel, estudou-se o efeito do revestimento de quitosano e do seu derivado solúvel em água nas propriedades finais do papel. As propriedades morfológicas, mecânicas, superficiais, ópticas, assim como a permeabilidade ao ar e ao vapor de água, a aptidão à impressão e o envelhecimento do papel, foram exaustivamente avaliadas. De uma forma geral, os revestimentos com quitosano e com o seu derivado solúvel em água tiveram um impacto positivo nas propriedades finais do papel, que se mostrou ser dependente do número de camadas depositadas. Os resultados também mostraram que os papéis revestidos com o derivado solúvel em água apresentaram melhores propriedades ópticas, aptidão à impressão e melhores resultados em relação ao envelhecimento do que os papéis revestidos com quitosano. Assim, o uso de derivados de quitosano solúveis em água em processos de revestimento de papel representa uma estratégia bastante interessante e sustentável para o desenvolvimento de novos materiais funcionais ou na melhoria das propriedades finais dos papéis. Por fim, tendo como objectivo valorizar os resíduos e fracções menos nobres da quitina e do quitosano provenientes da indústria transformadora, estes polímeros foram convertidos em polióis viscosos através de uma reacção simples de oxipropilação. Este processo tem também conotação "verde" uma vez que não requer solvente, não origina subprodutos e não exige nenhuma operação específica (separação, purificação, etc) para isolar o produto da reacção. As amostras de quitina e quitosano foram pré-activadas com KOH e depois modificadas com um excesso de óxido de propileno (PO) num reactor apropriado. Em todos os casos, o produto da reacção foi um líquido viscoso composto por quitina ou quitosano oxipropilados e homopolímero de PO. Estas duas fracções foram separadas e caracterizadas.

Essays on energy derivatives pricing and financial risk management

This thesis consists of an introductory chapter (essay I) and five more empirical essays on electricity markets and CO2 spot price behaviour, derivatives pricing analysis and hedging. Essay I presents the structure of the thesis and electricity markets functioning and characteristics, as well as the type of products traded, to be analyzed on the following essays. In the second essay we conduct an empirical study on co-movements in electricity markets resorting to wavelet analysis, discussing long-term dynamics and markets integration. Essay three is about hedging performance and multiscale relationships in the German electricity spot and futures markets, also using wavelet analysis. We concentrate the investigation on the relationship between coherence evolution and hedge ratio analysis, on a time-frequency-scale approach, between spot and futures which conditions the effectiveness of the hedging strategy. Essays four, five and six are interrelated between them and with the other two previous essays given the nature of the commodity analyzed, CO2 emission allowances, traded in electricity markets. Relationships between electricity prices, primary energy fuel prices and carbon dioxide permits are analyzed on essay four. The efficiency of the European market for allowances is examined taking into account markets heterogeneity. Essay five analyzes stylized statistical properties of the recent traded asset CO2 emission allowances, for spot and futures returns, examining also the relation linking convenience yield and risk premium, for the German European Energy Exchange (EEX) between October 2005 and October 2009. The study was conducted through empirical estimations of CO2 allowances risk premium, convenience yield, and their relation. Future prices from an ex-post perspective are examined to show evidence for significant negative risk premium, or else a positive forward premium. Finally, essay six analyzes emission allowances futures hedging effectiveness, providing evidence for utility gains increases with investor’s preference over risk. Deregulation of electricity markets has led to higher uncertainty in electricity prices and by presenting these essays we try to shed new lights about structuring, pricing and hedging in this type of markets.

Pro-internationalisation policies and outward foreign direct investment

This thesis addresses the impacts of public policies on outward foreign direct investment, seeking to contribute to a better understanding of the interplay between pro-internationalisation policies and firm behaviour. Home country measures associated with these policies are explored in terms of use and awareness, as determinants of foreign direct investment, as drivers of policy objectives, in terms of perceived importance and impact in different scenarios of internationalisation. Using a comprehensive database of 441 Portuguese firms, being those that had participated at least in one of the 11 types of public support between 1994 and 2009. The empirical papers presented here reveal a moderating effect of firm capabilities and internationalisation conditions on policy objectives. In fact, firms’ resources and capabilities frame the awareness and use of home country support measures, the existence of public policy determinants of foreign direct investment, the decision to carry out more aggressive modes of entry and the choice of more demanding environments, the impact of policy objectives, and the perceived importance of incentives. In practical terms, the findings of this thesis points that firms’ resources and capabilities are negatively associated with the use of public support, contrasting with awareness, which is found to increase with firms’ resources and capabilities. This insight sheds light on a potential problem of incentives allocation. Our results support the established theorizing about the co-evolution of government and firms' policies, home country measures being found as determinants of foreign direct investment. It is also shown that prointernationalization policies reinforce the firms’ resources and capabilities, which seems to have a positive impact on international growth. An evaluation of public policy, from the foreign direct investor's lens, supports the argument that firms involved in more demanding projects tend to attribute more importance to public supports. Behind the specific and concrete contributions identified in each of the empirical papers, as a whole this thesis makes methodological contributions by introducing the evaluation of impacts of public policies to the field of international business through the firm perspective; these contributions are achieved by taking the pro-internationalisation policies of a small open economy to better understand the impacts of public policies, and by shedding light on co-evolution between resource and institutional-based views.

Analysis of the organic matter associated to sea salt : definition of potential molecular markers based on the volatile composition and presence of glycosidic derivatives and polysaccharides

Sea salt is a natural product obtained from the evaporation of seawater in saltpans due to the combined effect of wind and sunlight. Nowadays, there is a growing interest for protection and re-valorisation of saltpans intrinsically associated to the quality of sea salt that can be evaluated by its physico-chemical properties. These man-made systems can be located in different geographical areas presenting different environmental surroundings. During the crystallization process, organic compounds coming from these surroundings can be incorporated into sea salt crystals, influencing their final composition. The organic matter associated to sea salt arises from three main sources: algae, surrounding bacterial community, and anthropogenic activity. Based on the hypothesis that sea salt contains associated organic compounds that can be used as markers of the product, including saltpans surrounding environment, the aim of this PhD thesis was to identify these compounds. With this purpose, this work comprised: 1) a deep characterisation of the volatile composition of sea salt by headspace solid phase microextraction combined with comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HS-SPME/GCGC–ToFMS) methodology, in search of potential sea salt volatile markers; 2) the development of a methodology to isolate the polymeric material potentially present in sea salt, in amounts that allow its characterisation in terms of polysaccharides and protein; and 3) to explore the possible presence of triacylglycerides. The high chromatographic resolution and sensitivity of GC×GC–ToFMS enabled the separation and identification of a higher number of volatile compounds from sea salt, about three folds, compared to unidimentional chromatography (GC–qMS). The chromatographic contour plots obtained revealed the complexity of marine salt volatile composition and confirmed the relevance of GC×GC–ToFMS for this type of analysis. The structured bidimentional chromatographic profile arising from 1D volatility and 2D polarity was demonstrated, allowing more reliable identifications. Results obtained for analysis of salt from two locations in Aveiro and harvested over three years suggest the loss of volatile compounds along the time of storage of the salt. From Atlantic Ocean salts of seven different geographical origins, all produced in 2007, it was possible to identify a sub-set of ten compounds present in all salts, namely 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one, 2,2,6-trimethylcyclohexanone, isophorone, ketoisophorone, β-ionone-5,6-epoxide, dihydroactinidiolide, 6,10,14-trimethyl-2-pentadecanone, 3-hydroxy-2,4,4-trimethylpentyl 2-methylpropanoate, 2,4,4-trimethylpentane-1,3-diyl bis(2-methylpropanoate), and 2-ethyl-1-hexanol. These ten compounds were considered potential volatile markers of sea salt. Seven of these compounds are carotenoid-derived compounds, and the other three may result from the integration of compounds from anthropogenic activity as metabolites of marine organisms. The present PhD work also allowed the isolation and characterisation, for the first time, of polymeric material from sea salt, using 16 Atlantic Ocean salts. A dialysis-based methodology was developed to isolate the polymeric material from sea salt in amounts that allowed its characterisation. The median content of polymeric material isolated from the 16 salts was 144 mg per kg of salt, e.g. 0.014% (w/w). Mid-infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetry revealed the main occurrence of sulfated polysaccharides, as well as the presence of protein in the polymeric material from sea salt. Sea salt polysaccharides were found to be rich in uronic acid residues (21 mol%), glucose (18), galactose (16), and fucose (13). Sulfate content represented a median of 45 mol%, being the median content of sulfated polysaccharides 461 mg/g of polymeric material, which accounted for 66 mg/kg of dry salt. Glycosidic linkage composition indicates that the main sugar residues that could carry one or more sulfate groups were identified as fucose and galactose. This fact allowed to infer that the polysaccharides from sea salt arise mainly from algae, due to their abundance and composition. The amino acid profile of the polymeric material from the 16 Atlantic Ocean salts showed as main residues, as medians, alanine (25 mol%), leucine (14), and valine (14), which are hydrophobic, being the median protein content 35 mg/g, i.e. 4,9 mg per kg of dry salt. Beside the occurrence of hydrophobic volatile compounds in sea salt, hydrophobic non-volatile compounds were also detected. Triacylglycerides were obtained from sea salt by soxhlet extraction with n-hexane. Fatty acid composition revealed palmitic acid as the major residue (43 mol%), followed by stearic (13), linolenic (13), oleic (12), and linoleic (9). Sea salt triacylglycerides median content was 1.5 mg per kg of dry salt. Both protein and triacylglycerides seem to arise from macro and microalgae, phytoplankton and cyanobacteria, due to their abundance and composition. Despite the variability resulting from saltpans surrounding environment, this PhD thesis allowed the identification of a sea salt characteristic organic compounds profile based on volatile compounds, polysaccharides, protein, and triacylglycerides.

Enhancing Macrocyclic Diterpenes as Multidrug-Resistance Reversers: Structure–Activity Studies on Jolkinol D Derivatives

The phytochemical study of Euphorbia piscatoria yielded jolkinol D (1) in a large amount, whose derivatization gave rise to 12 ester derivatives (2–13) and hydrolysis to compound 14. The in vitro modulation of P-gp of compounds 1–14 was evaluated through a combination of transport and chemosensitivity assays, using the L5178 mouse T lymphoma cell line transfected with the human MDR1 gene. Apart from jolkinol D, all derivatives (2–14) showed potential as MDR reversal agents. In this small library of novel bioactive macrocyclic lathyrane diterpene derivatives, designed to evaluate structure–activity relationships essential in overcoming multidrug resistance (MDR), some correlations between MDR reversal and molecular weight, accessible solvent areas, and octanol/water partition coefficient were identified that can contribute to the development of new selective P-gp reversal agents.